One of the most talked about high school basketball players in the country is taking his electrifying dunks to Duke.

With his viral dunks seen by millions all over social media, the nation’s number three ranked high school player of 2018 chose Duke over Kansas, Kentucky, Clemson and North Carolina. Zion, a 17-year-old, 6′ 7″ forward, who plays for Spartanburg Day School in South Carolina, now joins the number one player R.J Barrett, a 6′ 7″ forward from Montverde (Florida) Academy and number two player Cameron Reddish, a 6′ 7″ forward from the Westtown School in Norristown, Pennsylvania, as part of the Blue Devils’ historic recruiting Class of 2018.

Zion said he chose to join the Blue Devils because, “Duke stood out, because the brotherhood represents a family.” according to an ESPN interview

Zion also acknowledged Duke’s head coach playing a big factor in his decision.

“Coach K [Mike Krzyzewski] he’s just the most legendary coach to ever coach college basketball,” Zion said. “I feel like going to Duke University I can learn a lot from him during my time there. Like I said, the brotherhood represents family, and I’m all about family.”

Duncan Lexander’18 grew up in South Carolina and played against Zion several times growing up in AAU [Amateur Athletic Union] games.

“I think he’s extremely athletic, pretty good high school player,” Duncan said. “I think he will be good at Duke, It’s the best fit for him.”

“In terms of the future, I think college and high school has a huge gap in terms of the talent level,” Duncan said.   He has a great body and it’s just about numbers now. It depends on what his stats look like freshman year.”

Ben Farmer is the boys varsity basketball Coach.

“I believe Zion is a really talented player, very athletic and he seems like a good kid,” said Farmer.

“It is pretty rare you see a player of his caliber in high school,” he added. “A kid who really loves the game and who can singlehandedly transform a team. I am looking forward to watching him at Duke.”

Ethan Dursht ’19 Called Zion “an athletic freak of nature with tons of potential. Overall he’s just a straight up bucket.”

“He is going to be a beast in college,” Dursht added. “The competition is obviously going to be a lot more difficult than high school, but Duke is an incredible program and Coach K is a legend who knows what to do to win and prepare him for the NBA”

“If Zion was at Williston, everybody would show up to the games, it would be crazy,” he said. “The dude would probably drop 30 a night easy and Williston would not lose a game. He would take so much pressure of the other guys, they would thrive playing with him. That would be some exciting stuff.”

Ms. Kay grew up in North Carolina; her father teaches Biological Anthropology at Duke.

“Normally I am very anti one-and-done but boy I can’t help but love it,” she said. “I fought it for so long however I know they are never going to change it.”

The “one-and-done” tradition Kay referred to is when athletes play one year of college before moving onto the NBA.

“If he as good as they say he is they will dominate,” Kay explained. “The bigger question is for Duke is to see if he has the leadership for college. It is a long season with a lot that goes into it beyond your talent, so you have to have leadership beyond the coach level and more as a play.”